The world’s first meta-retro blog

Tag Archives: Marketing

Hey, slackers. Your humble narrator has been really busy for the past year trying to save Western Civilization for ourselves and our posterity.

The Good News – We’re almost there.

The Bad News – I’ve severely neglected Muh Blog!

Regardless, for the past two Halloweens I’ve been meaning to draft a YUUUUGE effort-post on all things Universal Monsters in the 1990s. They were everywhere! Seriously, man… toys, books, t-shirts, ridiculous numbers of print ads and even postage stamps. I’m probably not going to get around to it this year, but I’ve discovered some other bloggers digging down that same rabbit hole.

Universal Monsters Universe is a very well-done and entertaining blog founded in 2016, that obsessively and compulsively blogs about anything even tangentially related to Universal Monsters. Check out some of their 90’s themed posts.

It was in the early 90’s that Universal began releasing their classic monsters on VHS. It was MCA Universal that released all of the classics and with their engaging box art, these films were soon welcomed into the homes of new fans and of those that grew up with them. It was soon after the release of the Universal Monsters on video that the “merchandising frenzy” for the characters like Dracula and Frankenstein began.

Over 1993 to 1994, Playmates Toys released eight action figures across two waves of remodeled Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles action figures that were styled to represent the classic Universal Monsters. During the early 90’s, Playmates Toys were a very dominant toy company as they also had the license for action figures and collectibles based off of CBS’ Star Trek property. I think all of us that were around in the early 90’s remember the terrific Star Trek: The Next Generation action figures. They also had a tie in with the Ninja Turtles as well. In 1993, Playmates released Leonardo as The Wolfman, Raphael as The Mummy, Michaelangelo as Frankenstein’s Monster, and Donatello as Dracula.

The 3.5 inch Burger King toys were not only perfect representations of their classic film counterparts, but they came at a perfect moment when the Universal Monsters were being honored not only through the U.S. Postal Service, but also seeing the VHS releases revitalize interest in the brand. If you were a monsters fan, Burger King was your go to spot for the month of October in the year 1997.

I’ll expand on these themes later, add context and search for the esoteric meaning behind it all. Until then, check out the links, enjoy the pictures and show these guys and ghouls some love.